That makes perfect sense. In a world this cutthroat, revealing a "System" would make Han Chen a target for every scientist and warlord left on the mountain peaks. He needs to play it smart—.
Chapter 3: The First Bond.
The Stalker Mutant slammed into the wall, its chitinous armor cracking against the ancient concrete. It shrieked, a sound like grinding metal, and prepared to spring again.
Han Chen felt the power humming under his skin, but he forced his expression to stay one of panicked desperation. He couldn't let Lin Mei see the holographic screens dancing in his vision.
[WARNING: EMERGENCY CONTRACT DRAIN!]
[SYSTEM ADVICE: FINISH THE COMBAT QUICKLY TO CONSUMMATE THE BOND AND STABILIZE VITALITY.]
"What... what did you do?" Lin Mei gasped. The black veins on her neck had receded, replaced by a faint, glowing circuit-like pattern that pulsed in time with Han's heartbeat. She felt a strange, magnetic pull toward this scavenger—a man she would have ignored yesterday, but now felt like her only anchor in a storm.
"I found an old-world stimulant in the debris!" Han lied quickly, his voice strained as he dodged a lunge from the monster. "I injected us both! Move, Commander! Now!"
Lin Mei's training kicked in. She didn't have time to question the "stimulant." She grabbed her fallen laser-blade. The blue edge flickered to life, hummed with a new, golden frequency—a direct result of the System's hidden buff.
"Cover me!" she commanded.
Han didn't just cover her; he moved with a speed that defied logic for a Scavenger. As the Mutant swung a massive, clawed limb at Lin Mei's head, Han reached out and caught the beast's wrist.
The sound of bones snapping filled the corridor. Han's Strength stat of 8, doubled by the bond, was enough to overpower the beast's raw muscle.
"Now!" Han roared.
Lin Mei spun, her blade a blur of light. She didn't just cut the beast; she bifurcated it. The Stalker Mutant fell in two steaming halves, its bioluminescent blood painting the walls.
As the monster died, the silence that followed was heavy with the sound of their labored breathing. The "Adrenaline Burst" was fading, and the System's price was coming due.
[BATTLE COMPLETE. EXP GAINED: +500]
[LEVEL UP! LEVEL 1 ➔ LEVEL 3]
[URGENT: BOND INSTABILITY DETECTED. TARGET 'LIN MEI' IS EXPERIENCING GENE-REJECTION. PHYSICAL PROXIMITY AND INTIMACY REQUIRED TO ANCHOR THE EVOLUTION.]
Han felt a wave of heat wash over him. It wasn't just the System; it was a primal, biological demand. He looked at Lin Mei. She had collapsed against a rusted pillar, her armor steaming, her face flushed with a deep, unnatural fever.
"It's... it's burning," she whispered, her hands clawing at her chest plate. "The stimulant... it's too strong..."
Han knelt beside her. He could feel the System's prompt pulsing in the back of his mind: Marry, Expand, Conquer. He knew that if he didn't act, the "Evolution" he had forced on her would burn her out from the inside.
"I have to stabilize your energy," Han said, his voice dropping to a low, commanding tone. He began unbuckling the damaged plates of her Sky-Guard armor.
"What are you...?" She tried to push him away, but her hand had no strength. When their skin touched, a literal spark of electricity jumped between them, and a moan of relief escaped her lips. The System was Rewriting her DNA, and only Han's presence could act as the catalyst.
[NOTICE: COMMENCING 'LINEAGE ANCHORING'.]
[REWARDS PENDING: GENETIC_MAP, CLEAN_WATER_GENERATOR, AND STRENGTH_PERK.]
Outside, the tide continued to rise, the waves slapping against the 105th floor. But inside the dark, dusty room, the air was thick with a different kind of tension. Han Chen looked at the beautiful, powerful woman in his arms. He was no longer a scavenger. He was a founder.
What's the next move?
In Chapter 4, we can explore the immediate "System Shop" rewards Han gets after the night with Lin Mei. He will need to find a way to hide her (and his new powers) from the Sky-Guard search parties that will inevitably come looking for their Commander.